Category Archives: Bit of the ordinary

Something from everyday goings on.

Bit of the ordinary

Defying gravity- 80’s style

Since the passing of Michael Jackson, I have been listening to his songs, as I am sure lots of people are doing. I have also been looking up his old videos on YouTUbe.
One of the them was Smooth Criminal, which I loved as much as Thriller.

What I always remembered was the part of the dance when they lean over incredibly far and then keep dancing. It was so amazing. What I didn’t know until recently was that he filed a patent for the mechanism he (and others) created for the effect. The pictures look super cool(as patent filing pictures go):


They had a bolt that was pneumatically actuated to rise up from the floor and it locked into the heel of a specially constructed Shoe. That locked the feet in place. The shoe had a ton of ankle support, like rollerblades but flexible, which allowed them to bend over. It is neat to see something I thought was magical as a kid and now know not only how they did it, but understand the mechanics of building it. Makes the magic feel kinda attainable. Which is a good feeling to have.

Bit of the ordinary, Family biz

Summer: the beginning

It’s raining again. The difference is that we are in New Jersey instead of Virginia. Our epic summer travel has begun. The house is being watched, as are the dogs. So it is odd to be without some of the usual interruptions.

We already had our quick trip to New York City. Ann’s friend Joanna had her 40th birthday party. We got to go to that. It was fun to talk to other grown ups. I have discovered that I can actually carry on conversations with complete strangers and not be nervous. This is a new thing for me. And, true, in some situations it doesn’t hold up. But more often than not I can do just fine. In high school I was the kid that didn’t want to talk in class, and didn’t talk at parties. In most social situations with large groups of people I would just clam up. So I see this as a great step.

More details on the rest of the NYC trip soon.

Bit of the ordinary

Great list of “tools explained by a D.I.Y. er”

At the blog Dinosaurs & Robots is a funny list of describing the true nature of specific tools:

DRILL PRESS:
A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings objects across the room, denting the freshly-painted vertical stabilizer which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.

WIRE WHEEL:
Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench at the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, ‘Oh sh*t’

The rest are here